SPARKS, Md. — Jenny Levy, the highly-successful women’s lacrosse coach at the University of North Carolina, has been named as the head coach for the U.S. women’s national team.

“We were fortunate to have a tremendous pool of candidates, and Jenny really fit all of our needs,” said Kevin Ankrom, director of high performance for US Lacrosse. “She’s a proven winner, and she also has a passion for the development of the sport and helping to create the pathway from youth to world-class athletes.”

“It is a true honor to be selected as the next head coach of the Women’s National Team,” said Levy. “I expect to continue to build on the tradition of success established by the coaches and players who have come before me, and I am excited to have the opportunity to help lead many of the best players in the world. We will compete for extraordinary excellence and work to build a sustainable program which will include a vertical integration from the National Team Development Program (NTDP) to U19 to our senior team. Ultimately, our goal will be to provide our players with an elite professional experience, which will help them inspire the next generation of players and positively impact the growth of the sport.”

Levy, who currently volunteers as a member of the US Lacrosse Board of Directors, is the only coach in the history of UNC women’s lacrosse. In her 22 seasons, she has compiled a record of 312-109. North Carolina has participated in the NCAA tournament 19 times, reached the semifinals nine times and won the national championship in 2013 and 2016.

As a player, Levy was a two-time first team All-America selection at the University of Virginia, and helped the Cavaliers to the 1991 NCAA championship when she earned Most Outstanding Attacker honors after scoring five goals in the semifinals and three in the championship game. She was named the NCAA Attacker of the Year in 1992 and went on to play on the U.S. national team for two years.

Levy takes over for Georgetown coach Ricky Fried, who led the U.S. to back-to-back Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championships, including a 10-5 victory over Canada in the gold medal game in Guildford, England last summer. The U.S. has been the dominant force in international women’s lacrosse for decades, winning eight of the 10 FIL World Cups held since 1982.

The sport also gained additional visibility this summer as lacrosse was included in The World Games for the first time ever. The World Games, conducted by the International World Games Association (IWGA), is a multi-sport competition for sports not contested in the Olympics. The U.S. defeated Canada, 11-8, to win the gold medal in Wroclaw, Poland.

The IWGA is formally recognized by the International Olympic Committee, and participation in the event was another step towards the aim of the FIL to have lacrosse included in the Olympic program.

Earlier this year, US Lacrosse announced the formation of the NTDP, which aims to increase and improve the pool of players feeding the national teams that represent the country in international competition, while providing regional opportunities for high school players to receive high performance training by US Lacrosse certified coaches and National Team coaches and players. Levy will play a major role in helping to shape that program.

“This is an opportunity for change, and to develop a high-performance system and structure that really prepares ourselves for the Olympic Games,” said Ankrom, who has been involved in four Olympics through his previous roles in high performance with Hong Kong, Ireland and New Zealand.

Applications for assistant coaches, support staff and medical staff for the team are now available.

The eight-time world champion U.S. women’s national team trains and plays using best-in-class products provided by Nike (apparel and footwear), Brine (equipment), STX (equipment), Under Armour (equipment), SISU Guard (mouthguards) and The Pearl by Guardian (balls). In addition to these partners, Greenfields, Nationwide, Sports Force Parks, Sweat X, Bank of America and MedStar Sports Medicine are official sponsors of Team USA. Team training is also aided by products from DJO Global, Motive Pure, NormaTec Recovery and Athletic Republic.

Follow the team on social media @USLacrosse and #USAWLAX.